John Ridley, the Oscar-winning screenwriter of “12 Years a Slave” continues to tackle subjects that are relevant to today’s America. The unstoppable Ridley is now working on a comic book sequel, “The American Way: Those Above and Those Below.”

A look at the spike in the number of employers retaliating against undocumented workers when they complain of stolen wages. What is the legal loophole that transforms neighborhoods and gets developments built without consent from the community?

With the rise of the super-temp, comes the increase income inequality. What happens when half the workforce are gig workers? SoCal Connected follows an Uber driver who lost his job and is struggling to support his family as an independent contractor. Ho

Articles

Inglewood city officials were secretly negotiating an agreement to build an arena for the Clippers basketball team for months before giving a carefully guarded notice to the public, according to newly released documents.

Employment and payrolls will continue to grow in California over the next three years, but there are economic risks on the horizon, including a rising federal deficit and possible hits to international trade, according to a UCLA Anderson Forecast released

There is more evidence green does a brain good. School aged children who have long term exposure to green space are less distracted and experience improved memory, according a recently published study co-authored by UCLA researchers.

Season 8

In its season premiere episode, SoCal Connected has found neighbors throughout L.A. filing lawsuits, restraining orders and calling the police on each other, all over the arrival of short term rentals. Can these Airbnb turf wars be settled by City Hall leaders? Will self regulation of the short term rental industry be a better solution to L.A.'s enforcement challenges? SoCal Connected's Nic Cha Kim dives into L.A.'s short term rental challenge.

Season 8

SUBSTANDARD OF LIVING

In this episode, SoCal Connected's Deepa Dernandes meets with Dario Pini, a landlord who calls himself a savior of Santa Barbara’s working class, but the City—and many of his tenants—have a different take on Pini. SoCal Connected looks at whether this self-proclaimed savior is actually a slumlord, and why it's taken officials nearly three decades to stop him.

Season 8

They’re tiny, weaponized, and carry a potentially deadly payload. They’re called “Assassin Bugs” and they can be as common as the backyard mosquito or as exotic as the so-called “kissing bug"--and they're here in Southern California, spreading some of the deadliest - and neglected- diseases in the world.

Season 8

A man's search for his missing wife who suffers from early onset Alzheimer's reveals gaps in the system meant to locate and care for the mentally impaired in California. Socal Connected documents the journey to answer, where's Nancy.

She's called the unstoppable woman. Meet one of the world's top virus hunters, who travels to the most remote parts of the planet to identify and stop pandemics.

Frank Lloyd Wright accelerated the search for L.A.'s authentic architecture. This episode explores the provocative theory that his early homes in L.A. were also a means of artistic catharsis for Wright.